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RECAP: The Big Bang Theory 9×02 – “The Separation Oscillation”

Warning: This post contains for spoilers for The Big Bang Theory 9×02. Do not read if you do not wish to be spoiled.

Someone really ought to put The Big Bang Theory, and its viewers, out of their misery. This week I decided to wax my facial hair and watch “The Separation Oscillation” at the same time, and the forceful ripping of hair from my face was far less painful.

“The Separation Oscillation” was a slight improvement on last week’s dreary season opener “The Matrimonial Momentum“. This is largely due to a cracking scene at the start of the episode which will make your drink re-emerge from your nostrils. Leonard is unable to sleep following the immediate failure of his and Penny’s quickie wedding, and Sheldon suggests Penny might find comfort in the lips of another man to even the score. Penny agrees. Sheldon grabs Penny in a passionate clinch, while Leonard stares on blankly before waking to realise it was all a dream.

It’s a great scene, worth a watch even if you are one of the wise few who gave up watching a couple of seasons ago.

Unfortunately, then TBBT returns to the far less exciting real lives of the gang. Leonard and Penny have fallen out over Leonard kissing another woman. In non-dream-world, Sheldon suggests Leonard introduces Penny and the lady he kissed, Mandy Chow, to reassure Penny he won’t be straying again. This doesn’t actually happen, but we do meet Chow, when Leonard decides she’s cheaper than a relationship councillor and spills his emotional woes. Chow is mostly just glad she didn’t sleep with him, before making the profound observation that Leonard is trying to sabotage his relationship with Penny.

Meanwhile, Sheldon and Amy are exhausting to watch, for all the wrong reasons. Sheldon is attempting to fight his way back into Amy’s life. He shows up at her door with a box of her old belongings – including Penny’s bra, in a transparent attempt to garner jealousy – as well as making a rude episode of Fun With Flags for her benefit. Amy is unimpressed when Sheldon compares her genitalia to Czechoslovakia on the show and comes round to yell at him for it.

As has become custom, Howard, Raj and Bernadette provide the only fodder for entertainment in the episode (aren’t you glad now that Helberg and Nayyal accepted the lower pay rate in the pay saga last year?). Raj is angry that Howard didn’t tell him about Leonard’s infidelity, while Bernadette is angry that Howard did tell her about it and she’s had to spend two years hiding it from Penny. It leads to one of the episode’s better scenes when Bernadette is forced to reiterate how surprised she is at the turn of events every other sentence to avoid arousing Penny’s suspicion.

Leonard and Penny finally chat and decide they were both intentionally damaging their relationship because they secretly feel the other is going to run off with someone more suited. I’m pretty sure they’ve had this argument several thousand times before. Having made up, they head off to consummate their marriage. Does anyone actually care anymore?

The misery continues in brand new episodes of The Big Bang Theory, currently airing Monday nights on CBS in the US.

More on News

Nicki Minaj To Star in a Sitcom on Her Life

So, from popstar to primetime, hip-hop star Nicki Minaj has landed a deal with ABC Family to make her life-story into a sitcom.

Teaming up with ABC Family and Sex Tape’s Kate Angelo, Minaj will work to re-tell the story of her quirky upbringing, with the sitcom set to take place in the 1990s when the ‘Superbass’ singer and her eccentric family moved from Trinidad and Tobago to the gritty Queens, New York.

Minaj told Deadline: “This is one of the more unique adventures I’ve ever embarked on.

“I couldn’t be more proud and excited to team up with an amazing group of people to give the world something really special.”

ABC Family’s Karey Burke also promised that the hip-hop star’s life story will be both “inspiring and hilarious” for viewers, a feat we have no doubt believing following that “What’s good?” comment at the 2015 VMA’s.

Moreover, Minaj is far from a novice to acting, having voiced Steffie in Ice Age: Continental Drift and filmed a role for next year’s Barbershop 3.

She also lent her voice to the animated series Steven Universe last year. Meanwhile, the ‘Anaconda’ rapper recently wrapped her ‘Pinkprint Tour’ with a series of North American dates, suggesting this project could be next on her list and on our screens within the next year. Fingers crossed!

More on Hooten & The Lady

Sky 1 Orders “Indiana Jones – Style” Drama

Hooten & the Lady stars Michael Landes (Love Soup) and Ophelia Lovibond (Guardians of the Galaxy) as adventurer Hooten and Lady Alexandria, who form a partnership to track down long lost treasures. These include a lost Amazonian city, the Buddha’s missing scroll and the lost tomb of Alexander the Great.

It is written by Tony Jordan, James Payne, Sarah Phelps, Jeff Povey and Richard Zajdlic. Filming will begin next month in Italy and South Africa.

Speaking about the exciting new commission, Sky 1 director Adam McDonald said: “Hooten & The Lady is gloriously ambitious and perfectly poised to take its place amongst the impressive line-up for an exciting year ahead of brand-new drama and comedy for Sky.”

Hooten & the Lady will comprise eight hour long episodes and is expected to premiere on Sky 1 next summer.

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The Voice UK: Paloma Faith Cries After Bust Up With Boy George

It’s all kicking off over at The Voice UK – and the series hasn’t even started yet.

According to reports from The Mirror, Boy George has already made Paloma Faith cry during a particularly heated pitching battle, where the two new coaches were fighting to snag a contestant for their team, but Boy George hit out at his rival when she pretended to fall asleep and snore during his long speech.

And while Faith passed it off as banter, Boy George snapped: “You said you weren’t going to be bitchy and you’re being bitchy. You’ve probably got PMT or something, you were extremely rude.

He then continued: “If you choose Paloma she will probably fall asleep while you sing.”

Boy George – who has nicknamed his fellow coach ‘Palaver’ – also told an act that he has had more number one hits in the States than Faith in a catty clash over egos.

And then, when the ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’ singer tried to pull silly faces during the wait for the next contestant in an attempt to lighten the mood, the music veteran told her: “Don’t give it if you can’t take it.”

The heated row – which celebrated coach will.i.am described as “super intense” – took place late on Monday night, as the coaches filmed the blind auditions in Manchester.

But, of course, a spokesperson for The Voice UK argued to Digital Spy that while the argument had taken place, it suggested that it showed how passionate the new coaches are.

“All four coaches are fighting hard to get the best talent on their teams,” he said. “Competition and banter may be lively on camera but professional rivalries are left at the studio doors at the end of every recording.

“We think viewers are going to love the genuine passion that our new line-up brings to The Voice in 2016.”

Either way, it seems as if Boy George and Faith have since made up, as the former tweeted a selfie of the duo together and described the row as “banter-mime,” to which his leading lady replied, “Feeling is mutual baby!”

Vimeo launches Alan Tudyk’s Con Man

While most know him as Hoban Washburne from Joss Whedon’s short-lived cult sci-fi drama Firefly, I first became aware of Alan Tudyk’s brilliance when watching the 2007 black comedy film, Death at a Funeral. Tudyk… read more

More on Con Man

Vimeo launches Alan Tudyk’s Con Man

While most know him as Hoban Washburne from Joss Whedon’s short-lived cult sci-fi drama Firefly, I first became aware of Alan Tudyk’s brilliance when watching the 2007 black comedy film, Death at a Funeral. Tudyk played the comedic linchpin Simon; an uptight office worker type who takes what he believes to be a Valium to calm his nerves before a funeral, accidentally trips on acid, and spends most of the funeral completely naked on a rooftop. From seeing Tudyk’s performance in this quaint British comedy, I was convinced he was indeed English. He’s not though, he’s very much American. Texan, in fact. My confusion can be put down to this actor’s unmistakeable talents in accents, comedy and emotion. Now, in his new Vimeo series Con Man, Alan Tudyk will prove he’s a triple threat, who can not only act, but also write and direct.

Con Man centres on Wray Nerely; an actor coping with life after his sci-fi series Spectrum has been cancelled before its time, yet gone on to become a beloved cult classic. [Could this show be in any way autobiographical..?] As, like so many a washed-up sci-fi star, Nerely is the begrudging guest of countless sci-fi conventions, comic book store appearances and different pop culture events, the show’s title is an abbreviation of ‘Convention Man’, as opposed to the more sketchy definition of a con man.

Along for the ride is Tudyk’s Firefly co-star and overall sci-fi legend Nathan Fillion, who plays Nerely’s good friend and Spectrum co-star Jack Moore, who has gone on to surpass that failed show and become a major celebrity in his own right.

Like a lot of Vimeo’s original productions, Con Man is a crowdfunding initiative done good. Well, really good, as the Indiegogo project that funded the show resulted in a record-breaking $3.2 million campaign and, with the support of over 46,000 global fans, now stands as the third highest funded film campaign on any crowdfunding platform ever. Wow.

Will the fans be pleased with the outcome, or have they been ‘conned’ out of their money? We’re emphatically certain of the former, we just had to make that joke.

More on BBC

Has Chris Evans Let Slip The New Top Gear Premiere Date?

Uh-oh, has Radio Two DJ Chris Evans let slip the new Top Gear premiere date?

During an appearance at the Radio Festival in London on Tuesday (September 29), the broadcaster told delegates that “Top Gear is not on until May, that’s seven months, three days and 18 hours [from now]”.

When the BBC ended its relationship with Evans’s predecessor – and controversy causer – Jeremy Clarkson, the corporation immediately confirmed plans to bring Top Gear back to screens in 2016, leaving 2015 as a gap year for the show.

However, the BBC has since told Digital Spy that it won’t be confirming exact transmission dates for the show at the moment, despite Evans’ slip.

In other Top Gear related news, rumour has it the former TFI Friday host’s Big Breakfast producer Lisa Clark is set to join the all-new Top Gear crew, though Evans has gone on recently to deny reports claiming Zoe Ball had a screen test for the show.

Meanwhile, Clarkson and his former Top Gear co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May are gearing up to launch a new, big-budget motoring show on Amazon Prime, that is due to start filming in a matter of weeks. Their show is also due to premiere in 2016, with rumours currently pointing at an autumn launch. This means that if Evan’s tip is on point, the two shows could avoid an immediate clash – though the gamble is on to see if the former Top Gear trio can maintain their audience on a VOD platform.

And in a seemingly endless bout of controversy, Evans has further confirmed today that he’s stepping down as presenter of TFI Friday after the reboot 8-part series concludes, stating that he’s “not allowed” to host any more episodes of the Channel 4 entertainment programme.

Vote: Who’s the best James Bond?

Dearest TVDaily readers, we need your help! In the lead-up to the much anticipated Spectre hitting UK screens this October 26th, we’re gathering your opinions to deliver the only guide to James… read more

Jean said: “It’s quite possible that we don’t have to go through the whole negotiation for 30. I wouldn’t be stunned if we stopped at 28, but my bet is on at least 30. But then you’d have to resign them again.

“If you made me pick one, I’d say the likeliest is ending after 30, but I’ve been wrong before. I thought five seasons was good when I got there [laughs].”

The Simpsons has just returned for its twenty-seventh season in the States, while the hit animated comedy is still airing season twenty-six in the UK.

Jean also dismissed rumours that Homer and Marge will divorce in the new season, saying: “We get away with a lot of stuff, but people want Homer with Marge; people want Lisa to have a little sense that she might win someday; they want Bart not to be all bad. There’s stuff you have to obey because that’s what people want in the show. People consider The Simpsons as an extended family now; they take it seriously.”